The purpose of technology is to make our lives easier and this is something that you can easily see in your work. With the right tool, hardware upgrade or a gadget, you can do your work easier, faster and with a smaller margin of error. Still, there are some productivity-boosting tech trends that are just more reliable than others.
For instance, while it’s been proven that there actually is a perfect temperature for office work, it’s quite impossible to make an estimate of how exactly this boosts productivity. You see, according to Price’s Law, only a square root of people at your office do a half of the total work. So, let’s say that you have 9 employees; that would mean that 3 people are doing the bulk of your work. Now, the ideal office temperature is estimated at about 71.6 degrees F and you decide to set it on your smart thermostat. However, what if 2 of these 3 people find this room temperature too chilly for them to focus? This way, you would even reduce the office productivity.
The point is that when it comes to small businesses and startups, you aren’t working with large enough numbers to rely on statistics. When it comes to small businesses, you need to go for tech trends that always work. Here are several such trends that you should try out for yourself.
High-end printing solution
When you imagine a traditional office (cubicles or not) there’s always someone in front of the printer. In fact, there’s a statistic that an average office worker prints about 10.000 sheets of paper every year. Sure, more and more companies are trying to go paperless, yet, this revolution won’t be completed in the nearest future. All of this means that if there’s ever to be a crowd inside the office, it will take place in front of the printer. This causes a lot of noise, a visual distraction and actively prevents people from carrying on with their main tasks. All of this can be avoided with an OKI Pro Series printer innovation.
Dual monitors
Take, for instance, the trend of using dual monitors (or multiple screens). The time that it takes you to alt-tab to the next window isn’t really that great, however, it limits you in several ways. First of all, it limits your sight by allowing you to focus only on a part of the puzzle, when with dual monitors, you can see everything. Aside from this, dual monitors also allow you to work and look at resources at the same time without having to break your focus. This is great for writing and doing any kind of academic research, as well as for coding and design.
Label writers
In the future, we might come to see a greater involvement of the Internet of Things (IoT) when it comes to managing supplies. As of today, these things still have to be managed in a more or less traditional way. We’re talking about writing labels, or, better yet, getting a label writer. Why is this so great? Well, first of all, it saves time. Second, imagine a scenario where there’s more than one person in charge of labeling the boxes with your supplies and products. Some handwritings are particularly hard to read, which might lead to a lot of confusion. This problem can be completely eliminated with the help of label writers.
Solar window charger
Finally, one more focal point of the office is an outlet with a charger. Needless to say, you can always plug your smartphone into your computer and charge it in this way but A) you might not have free USB slots left (especially on laptops) and B) this takes much longer. Instead, why not get some solar window chargers and handle this problem in a simple, efficient and, above all, clean way. These chargers are easy to mount and dismount, which means that they won’t pose an obstacle when it comes to cleaning windows. They are also easy to tuck into a drawer, seeing as how they don’t take up too much space.
Smart coffee maker
Breaks should always be mandatory, in fact, working uninterrupted for hours and hours will lead to a steady, yet certain decline in your overall productivity. However, do you really want to spend the majority of your break in the office kitchen and, more importantly, do you really want to wait some more for the coffee you’ve so desperately craved for the past hour? With a smart coffee maker, you can even start your day on a positive note. From the moment you enter the premises of your workplace, you can use your phone to send a brewing order.
Conclusion
Unlike the temperature thing we’ve discussed in the introduction, these five gadgets/trends are completely reliable and help make your office a better place. For instance, even though dual monitors may not give everyone the same boost (this depends on the task, industry and one’s ability to multitask), they’re always a positive thing. In other words, it’s always better to have two monitors instead of one, even if you’re not using the second screen 99 percent of the time. The same rules apply to all the other items on this list.
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